Is Detroit-Mercy Starting A Tuition Price War? Bring It On.

Private school University of Detroit-Mercy is lowering the cost of it's tuition by a whopping 30% beginning with the Fall 2018 semester. Can it start a price war?The tuition at Detroit-Marcy will drop from $41,000 per year to $28,000, according to the Detroit Free-Press. The move is an attempt to further increase enrollment, which has shown some recent growth, at the Roman Catholic school. Currently, Detroit-Mercy's enrollment is just under 5,000 students.

A chart in the Free-Press story compared Detroit-Mercy to both Michigan and Michigan State, where tuition is at $14,000 annually. However, Catholic school Notre Dame's tuition is $51,000 per year. A drop of 30% would certainly make the school more competitive in attracting students.

Would this be the start of a price war? Highly unlikely, but colleges and universities have become much more active in promoting themselves over past two decades, especially with billboards along interstate highways. And a 30% price drop will get some attention from those in the appropriate income level. The school has also launched a fund raising campaign with a loft goal of $100 million, in part to help with scholarships.

While the school isn't particularly high profile, it does boast some famous alumni, including current Michigan senator Gary Peters, comedian Keegan-Michael Key, director Ted Raimi and author Elmore Leonard.